History of the Australian Open

The Australian Open is the first of the four tennis Grand Slam tournaments to be held annually. The tournament managed by Tennis Australia is held in the second half of January at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia.

Beginning
The tournament was started in 1905 by Tennis Australia, then known as the Lawn Tennis Association of Australia. Initially known as the Australasian Championship, it was played at Warehouseman's Cricket Ground on St Kilda Road, Melbourne. Until the beginning of the 'Open' era, the tournament venues were rotated throughout Australia and New Zealand. The dates of the tournament would also fluctuate according to the climatic conditions of the place where it was supposed to be held.

From 1905 to 1987, the Australian Open was played on grass courts throughout the country. Many big names in the field of tennis stayed away from the tournament prior to the 1960s, as it was held in a remote part of the world. The players had to travel extensively to take part in this tournament. During those days, it took 45 days to travel from Europe to Australia in a ship. The first foreign players to participate in the Australian Open, arriving by an aircraft, were the members of the United States Davis Cup team, in 1946. As it was generally held around the festive season of Christmas and New Year, the dates proved to be a hindrance to participants. Besides, the prize money involved was also very less.

Permanent Venue
The tournament was renamed Australian Championship in 1927, and eventually Australian Open in 1969. In 1970, the National Tennis League disallowed its players to participate in this tournament. In 1972, the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club was chosen as the fixed venue for the tournament. As the tournament started to become popular, the International Tennis Federation urged Tennis Australia to discontinue Kooyung Stadium as the venue for the Australian Open, citing that it was not on par to host such a big event. In 1988, the tournament was shifted to Rebound Ace, the tennis hard court at Melbourne Park, then known as Flinders Park. When this venue was made permanent, the need to change the dates according to change in venue was over. The two main courts used here, the Rod Laver Arena and Hisense Arena, sport a retractable roof to avoid situations wherein the match gets stopped due to extreme weather conditions like heavy rains or excessive heat.

Technological Advancement
After its expansion in 1996, Flinders Park was renamed as the Melbourne Park. In 2007, the Hawk-eye system was introduced as a backup to human linesmen, allowing players and spectators to view instant replays on large video screens, thus minimizing the room for error to a large extent. The players were also given the authority to challenge the human linesman's call and view the replay to confirm or overrule the original call. In 2008, the Rebound Ace surface, being in use for 20 years, was replaced with an acrylic surface called the Plexicushion Prestige.

Major Achievements

• After winning the Australian Open in 1988, Mats Wilander of Sweden, became the only player to win the tournament on both grass court and hard court.
• Australian tennis star, Roy Emerson, with six titles to his credit, tops the men's list of most singles titles in the history of the Australian Open.
• Fellow Australian, Margaret Court, tops the women's list of most Australian Open singles titles, with 11 titles to her credit.
• Winning the mixed doubles at the age of 52 years in 1923, Horace Rice became the oldest player to win any Australian Open title.

In recent years, with top tennis stars, like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Maria Sharapova and the Williams sisters, participating in this tournament, the Australian Open has become a feast for the eyes of tennis lovers across the globe.